Istanbul Municipality to build new subway lines only for AKP-dominated districts

"Our primary focus is subway lines for now. We will provide new subway lines for the districts of Istanbul where we received the most votes." Istanbul Metropolitan Mayor Mahir Ünal from the ruling Justice and Development Party said

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP)’s Istanbul Metropolitan Mayor Mevlüt Uysal gave a speech at an AKP congress in Istanbul’s Arnavutköy district.

Indicating that Arnavutköy has been one of the strongholds of the AKP since its establishment in 2002, Uysal said, "I think that we, as the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, owe the Arnavutköy people for their great support."

"Our primary focus is subway lines for now. We will provide new subway lines for the districts of Istanbul where we received the most votes. We are still expecting even more votes from Arnavutköy," he continued.

In January 2018, Mevlüt Uysal had cancelled six subway tenders projected for Istanbul. The Parliamentary main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) had accused the Istanbul Mayor of damaging the public economy, claiming that the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality would pay 10% compensation for the termination fee according to the contract terms, equivalent to a loss between 75-100 million TL [~$19 million-$25,5 million].

Many citizens criticized Uysal’s statements on social media.

Uysal took office after Kadir Topbaş stepped down in September 2017 after 13 years in the key post, as one of several AKP mayors.